His Cure

In the Beginning

"Shoot her!" I heard a man yell from behind me as I began to ride faster. Now, you may be thinking, who did I piss off? Well, everyone actually. Mainly the law. See I'm not exactly an outlaw... okay fine, I'm an outlaw. I guess I just wasn't dealt the best cards in life.
I sped around the corner on Wish, gently kicking her sides , causing her to gallop faster. The dust beneath her feet was wiped up as she sprinted, leaving a trail of clouds along the path behind us. I knew these paths and shortcuts like the back of my hand so it wasn't difficult to navigate them. I felt the adrenaline pulsing through my body as my braid of long dark brown hair danced in the wind. I pulled Wish to the side and we began to run down a small forest path, the scent of pine strong in the air.
"BANG!" I heard one of the mens guns go off before feeling an intense pressure in my right leg, followed by an extreme burning. I let out a small yelp in pain. I couldn't even look down to check my leg, I just had to keep riding.

I have no idea how long I was riding for before I lost them. All I do know is that I had lost a lot of blood and was starting to feel really faint. I quickly looked behind me to make sure I had truly lost them, luckily I couldn't see anyone but I didn't let my guard down.
However, when I turned my head back around, that was when it all went wrong. In the few seconds I had taken my eyes off of the road, a deer had galloped onto the path. I swerved Wish to the left to avoid it but she must have lost her footing and we skidded straight into a tree.
I slightly opened my eyes after feeling the impact of the ground. I was so weak I couldn't even move. I was so weak I couldn't even fight off the person walking towards me. "Please, no..." is the only whisper I was able to speak before blacking out.
***
I opened my eyes and quickly looked around. Where was I? I was in a tent, but who's? It was all such a blur. I quickly tried to reach down for my gun but my hands were tied. So were my feet. "What the hell?" I whispered to myself and began shuffling around, trying to get free. "She's awake!" I heard a woman yell from the right of me.
"Shit!" I mumbled and began desperately trying to pry the ropes off. "Well, hello there missy." Said a very smartly dressed man. "What do you want from me?" I asked as I glared at him. "Let me go." By this point quite a few other people had gathered around the tent.
"What's your name?" The man said in a very stern voice. "Bite me."
"Now you listen here young lady," he began. "We could have killed you when we found you. Out of the kindness of our own hearts, we didn't, but that does not mean for one second that any of us would hesitate to put a bullet in the back of your head if you don't comply. Now, I will say it once more. What. Is. Your. Name." The sternness in his voice made my stomach drop. I could tell he was serious.
"Elizabeth." "Elizabeth what?" "I'm not telling you anything. Let me go." I grunted as I tried the ropes once more. "Elizabeth, I would recommend you listen to me. You see this man here?" He motioned to a tall, well built man with golden hair. "He is the best sharp shooter in the entirety of America and trust me, he does not miss."
I didn't say anything back, I just gave him a death stare. He frowned at me and placed his hand on the wound on my leg. "We cleaned you up. I could very easily undo that." He said as he pushed his thumb into it. I let out a moan in pain. "Cheban!" I quickly said. He took his hand off of my leg. "Now that wasn't so difficult, was it? So, Elizabeth Cheban, who are you with?" "No one." I replied,  telling the truth. "I won't ask again!" "I'm on my own! I have been for a while now!" I yelled, trying to make him believe me. "And before that?" He stared into my eyes as if he could read my every thought. "I was with a group, they were killed! I'm alone!" "I know who you are, O'Driscoll." He said, in a voice that could scare away a grizzly.
"What?" I asked him, genuinely confused now. "Don't act stupid, O'Driscoll." "What the fuck is an O'Driscoll?!" I replied. "She doesn't know anything Dutch." A woman said from behind the man I now knew to be called Dutch. "What if she does?! She could put the whole group at risk!" He yelled, grabbing my hair in his fist and pulling it back. "Just shoot her." I heard a man say from behind Dutch.
"Dutch, enough!" A man pulled Dutch off of me. After regaining his thoughts and standing up he said "Fine, but she is not to be trusted." And with that he walked off. My breathing was fast and I was still tied up. What the hell do I do now?
"Let's go get you cleaned up, hun." A woman with dark brown hair said before cutting the ropes around my hands and feet. I quickly stood up and rubbed where the rope had been against my wrist. "Hey. It's okay." The woman said once again. "If I was in your position I would be worried too. I'm Abigail. Come on, I'll get you something to eat." Reluctantly, I followed her towards a wagon, from which she pulled out an apple and some bread. "You can sit at that table over there. I need to go have a chat with someone, I'll come find you later." She walked off before I could say anything.
I didn't sit at the table, instead I sat under a tree that was on the outskirts of the camp and started eating. Usually I wouldn't be so quick to eat food that strangers had given me, but I hadn't eaten in days.
***
Once I had finished eating, a little boy who couldn't have been older than five came wandering over to me. "Hello." He said in a perky voice. "Uh, hi?" I responded. "What's your name?" The small boy asked me. "Elizabeth." "I'm Jack!" Said the boy "Nice to meet you, Jack." I smiled at him. He was adorable and his joyfulness eased me slightly.
"Are you going to be staying here with us now?" "I don't think so, bud." I replied. "Why are you here?" He gave me a curious look. "I crashed my horse. Your people just helped me clean up, is all." I lied. "Okay." He said before pulling two small wooden horses out of his pocket. "Cool horses." I exclaimed, trying to bond with him. He giggled slightly and said, "Thank you. My Pa made them for me. Will you play with me? Everyone else is busy." He pouted slightly. "Okay." I replied, and with that he sat on the dirt beside me and gave me one of the horses.